It’s become a heartbreakingly common sight on the internet: People using crowdfunding sites to raise money for their expensive health care, including cancer treatment. But a new report published Wednesday in the BMJ suggests that desperate people are often using this money to pursue dubious, possibly dangerous…
The solution to few of life’s problems can be found at the bottom of a bottle, except, maybe, the poor sound quality from tiny wireless speakers. The creators of the portable Sodapop speaker promise that by simply attaching an empty soda bottle, you can increase its loudness and bass by almost 10 decibels.
It should’ve been a simple, feel-good story. A homeless man used his last $20 to help a woman with car troubles, and she returned the favor by starting a GoFundMe that raised $400,000 to get the man on his feet. Now a judge has ordered all the funds handed over to the man’s legal team after the couple refused to do it…
Johnny Bobbitt is reportedly homeless and asking for money on the Philadelphia streets less than a year after he selflessly helped a stranded person, earning him viral attention and hundreds of thousands in crowdfunded donations.
The world of the Expanse novels is getting a whole new tabletop RPG early next year. In many ways, it’s a return to the roots Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham’s award-winning book series actually began as, well before the beloved television show.
Until the Super Soaker came along in 1990, water guns hadn’t changed much in over a century. But the Super Soaker was 28 years ago, and a group of German engineers and designers think it’s finally time for water guns to evolve again. They’ve created the self-filling Spyra One that fires quick bursts of water instead…
The Brothers Chaps’ Homestar Runner cartoons are one of the few good things to ever come from this internet thing. It introduced the world to countless quotable characters, but few became as immediately popular as the S-shaped, one-armed, flying, burninating dragon called Trogdor, who’s now starring in his very own…
If your smartphone of choice has forced you to upgrade to wireless headphones, you probably hate having to swap them out for a corded pair when you want to play your Nintendo Switch with a little privacy. The portable console doesn’t come with Bluetooth, but a tiny dongle called the Genki does, theoretically making it…
Matt Kindt’s beloved Dark Horse series about a young crime writer thrust into a world of superspies and superpowers came to an end three years ago—but now it’s coming back. Except, it’s not in the way you might expect, because it’s doing so with a new Kickstarter project io9 can exclusively reveal today.
Back in 2014, we were duly impressed with the inCharge, which made it easy to keep a tiny emergency USB charging cable on your keyring. Four years later, its creators have found a way to improve the inCharge with a new version featuring a connector that works with both Lightning and microUSB ports so you don’t need to…
Ossic, the company developing the Ossic X over-ear headphones designed primarily for virtual reality headsets, has ceased production after failing to deliver pre-orders to crowdfunding backers and is shutting down “effective immediately.” While Ossic blames lack of demand for its niche product (in addition to…
Facebook is changing its tune when it comes to fees and fundraisers. The company announced in a blog post today that it will eliminate its “platform fees” for all personal fundraisers “in the coming weeks,” after charging users a 6.9 percent fee plus an additional $0.30 to run various types of personal crowdfunding…
A GoFundMe fundraiser for a German shepherd puppy’s emergency surgery reportedly received nearly 700 donations over 28 days, totaling $14,065. But police now say the dog’s owner intentionally caused the injuries and GoFundMe has promised to refund the donors. The 5-month-old dog, Atlas, died on February 3rd.
Over the past four years Patreon has grown to become the de facto funding model for independent creators online—a platform where supporters pledge small monthly recurring donations that better support an enduring career instead of the need Kickstarter or GoFundMe’s per-project setup fills. But an overhaul of its fee…
GoFundMe can be a dark place. Sometimes, it’s your pitiful friends asking you for money so that they can take a European vacation and finally tackle that “research project” they’ve been wanting to do. Other times, it’s truly tragic circumstances, like a stranger asking for help with medical bills. But today, dear…
When all digital spaces are controlled by liberal snowflakes, how’s a guy supposed to earn a living promoting hate online? Three new crowdfunding sites think they have the answer.
Having lots of choice when it comes to consoles and platforms is great for gamers, but having piles of proprietary controllers and accessories in your gaming room is not. The creators of the All Controller tried to fix that problem by designing a gamepad that works with everything from the PS4, to PCs, to iPhones so…
Was the Segway ahead of its time, or just an overhyped product that could have never lived up to the anticipation? Being pricier than a used car didn’t help the original Segway’s chances, but at least now, electrical engineer Olaf Winkler has solved that problem with a ball-based self-balancing scooter that features a…
Welcome back to Toy Aisle, io9's round up of the best toys we’ve seen all week. This time we’ve got tons of new Lego minifigures, the most amazing Magneto cape, entirely unrelated magnetic building blocks, a spectacularly poseable Spider-Man: Homecoming figure, and yes, the best grin on a Han Solo action figure ever.
The United States can be a cruel place to live, as the rise of fascism in the country has caused a shocking increase in hate crimes. And after a terrorist shooting in Kansas, Americans have turned to what has now become a depressingly common ritual in the face of tragedy: Raising money for the survivors through…
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